BY KENNY AND RICHARD

The first ever

recorded Vikings was

in a raid in the 790s

and the last recorded

raid was in 1066,

during the Norman

Conquest of England.

The Vikings are mostly known for causing or being in wars and fights, mostly caused by pirating, raiding and exploring. Not all the things they did was violent, they also traded. Between the 8th to the mid 11th century they settled in many parts of Europe. The most known Vikings items were horned helmets and there huge longboats which they used for raiding and traveling. The longboats helped them travel to Russia, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and Al Andulas. This is know known as the Vikings Age. The Viking age has formed a huge role in medieval history in Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Model of a

Viking Longboat

The vikings mostly lived in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Social affairs were held at an assembly called “The Thing”. Crimes were settled and daily affairs were handled. In the Viking society the people were divided into three classes from strongest to weakest: Jarls, Karls and Thralls. Jarls were the strongest and tallest and their occupation was war. The Karls or freemen were farmers, craftsmen or normal citizens. The Thralls were pretty much slaves and they had to do a lot of the dirty work. They had no legal rights and most of them were prisoners

Viking houses were not made for comfort but for living and safety. Viking houses were

built of stone, wood or turf depending on which materials they had access to. The

houses were long, with sloping hay or turf roofs while the floor was dug below the

ground level. The walls were made of woven wooden sticks, covered with mud to

keep out the wind and rain. Most houses just had one room for a family to share but a

rich family may have an entrance hall, bathroom, kitchen and a large main room. In

Viking towns

houses were

usually very

crowded and

close together.

Diagram of a

Viking house.

The wealthier Vikings were usually Jarls. Karls could be wealthy if they sold their own slaves to other tribes. The rich Vikings were the only citizens might be able to pay for a bed. Wealthy Vikings were even given different funeral ceremonies then others. Instead of being buried they were put in a truck or a wagon as the Vikings believed in life after death. Wealthy Vikings could also afford wine rather than just beer.

A jarl helmet.

Vikings hunted harvested and ate

many foods. Some of the foods

that the Vikings harvested were:

wheat, barley and rye. They also

had some vegetables like

cabbage, onions and leeks. They

also would make bread and

porridge. They also grew: plums

and apples. They would also get

nuts and berries from the forest

The Vikings also ate fish a lot.

Some fish they ate were herring

and cod. They also raised animals

like pigs, sheep and goats. The

Vikings couldn’t grow much food

for the Winter so they salted or

smoked the many animals they

killed in the Fall.

Food of the Vikings

The Vikings couldn’t grow much food for the

Winter so they salted or smoked the many

animals they killed in the Fall. They also

sometimes hunted seals or whales. Plates and

bowls were made of wood and beverages were

drank out hollow horns called drinking horns.

Family Life of the Vikings At home the Viking husband would be

the one who would handle the farming and would sometimes pilot boats, and the mother would do the housekeeping and make meals. The man would be the one in charge generally and the kids helped their mother in the house. The girls would keep helping the mother out but the boy would start to help his father with farming.

In the Viking society girls were married between the ages of 12 and 15. As soon as a Viking woman got married she would do all of the housekeeping and cook the food. The dowries normal woman would bring would be a bed, and other furniture and goods. Woman from richer families would also bring jewellery of silver and gold. If a woman wanted a divorce because the husband was slacking off or for other reasons than she would have to get witnesses to see the husband mess up. If she didn’t get the witnesses she wouldn’t be able to take her dowries back with her.

There is little known about the Viking childbirth. What is known is that women were the only caregivers during birth and a midwife or a witness of a birth was considered a “helping women”. The delivery techniques in the birth didn’t change much over also.

If a baby was born with any sicknesses or disabilities the Vikings would leave the baby to die. Childhood was very hard because there were many diseases they did not have cures for and many kids did not live to their 15th birthday. If a Viking lived to be 10 years old they were considered adults. Instead of going to school they were required to do housekeeping at the age of 5. Boys were treated differently than girls. The girls learned how to do the housekeeping and how to make meals, whereas boys learned how to do farm work and learned how to use a sword. They were also taught how to pilot ships in water.

Childhood

Rights

Almost equal rights as adults.

Usually treated more kindly

than adults.

Have special rights.

Don’t work at young age.

Aloud to have there own opinion

If a baby was born and had a

disability or sickness, the

baby would be left to die.

Have a hard life.

No School.

Adults at age of 10.

All Boys were taught to work

on farms, use swords and

sometimes to steer boats at

the age of 5.

All girls had to do

housekeeping and make

meals

Both boys and girls have school.

Pretty easy life

Have cures for some diseases

Don’t have

cures for

some

diseases.

Canada Viking

Vikings did not have an education system or a school. Instead boys and girls learned to take care of the house and farm. Boys learned how to navigate ships and sword play, whereas girls just learned to take care of the house and cook. Boys also learned how to farm.

The Vikings originally believed the Pagan Religion of multiple Gods and despised Christianity. However nearing the end of the tenth century the Vikings changed their religion to Christianity. Their old religion was similar to the Roman and Greek beliefs. They would think that if they treated the Gods well they would protect the Vikings against evil. Because of this the Vikings had sacrifices called “The Blot”. They would generally sacrifice animals. They also believed in this called “ The Final Day” where everyone would die in a world filled with fire.

A god of the One common god in the Viking Civilization was the

god Odin. He was the chief god and was the father of Thor, Balder, Hoder, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Ull, Vidar, Hermod and Vali. Odin was married to 3 women which were, Fjorgyn, Frigga and Rind. He had a habit of disguising himself as a human to seduce and impregnating women. A drawing of the god Odin

Clothing Viking wore clothes similar to some

other cultures. Men wore tunics and trousers, while women wore long dresses, a long apron and usually a scarf over there head. Some facts about Viking dressing style was it was thought to be un-cool for a Viking man to show too much bare chest, Vikings fastened there clothes with ties and brooches and Vikings grew vegetable plants to colour there clothes. The clothes were made from linen, wool, animal skins and fur.

The Vikings had three types of art in general. One was drawing different varieties of animals called Jellinge Style. Another was making homemade ornaments made of gold and silver called Ringerike style. They also did wood carving called Urnes style. The Vikings did have music, and most of the instruments were made of the wood from the elder trees. They had lyres, recorders, blast horns (made out of cow horns), and big drums made out of wood and animal skin.

From October 29 to November 2nd the festival called the winternights is held in Viking villages everywhere. They would have a feast and a time to remember the deaths that past year. It represents the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter. It also marked the beginning of the wild hunting where they would all go hunting to prepare for Winter. For Vikings there were only 2 seasons Summer and Winter.

CONCLUSION As you can see the Vikings

are a very interesting, but violent civilization. Vikings were always doing something from making clothes to starting wars. By many people they may be considered cool and awesome but by others they are just cold blooded killers.

“Vikings” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking#The_Viking_Age

http://www.dougcabot.com/lore/vi_social.html Viking Social Structure

Tim Lambert: http://www.localhistories.org/vikinglife.html

Viking life: http://www.viking.no/e/life/ewomen.htm

Viking Childbirth http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/medicine.shtml

http://library.thinkquest.org/C003446/a.php?b=9

Hatt Christine: The Viking World, published in Chicago Illinois by Heinemann Library

Bailey Linda: Adventures with the Vikings Published in Toronto by Kids Can Press Ltd.

Norse holidays and festivals: http://www.wizardrealm.com/norse/holidays.html

Viking Gods http://www.rosala-viking-centre.com/gods.htm

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/music.shtml

Picture Bibliographyhttp://votumsolvit.com/2008/10/30/vikings-were-keen-to-make-an-impression/http://www.learningenrichment.org/eyes_viking_map.htmlhttp://www.gov.im/mnh/collections/archaeology/vikings/

http://www.theancientweb.com/images/explore/Sweden_Viking_Village.jpghttp://www.bownet.org/jvulgamore/vikings/viking.htmhttp://www.armouronline.com/foto/produkty/titulni_115_viking_jarl_helmet.jpghttp://www.vikingsofmiddleengland.co.uk/images/food.jpghttp://www.ruralmissouri.org/10pages/10OctVikings.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2005/10/05/viking_weddings_feature.shtmlhttp://caroljonas.com/USERIMAGES/viking.kids.jpghttp://www.sodahead.com/united-states/no-matter-what-your-political-affiliation-may-be-do-you-think-it-is-right-that-in-the-

proposedheal/question738749/?link=ibaf&imgurl=http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000738749/polls_no_sign_4833_270599_answer_2_xlarge.png&q=no%2Brights%2Bsign

http://www.yorku.ca/laps/huma/chst/culture_collection.htmlhttp://portal.gaston.k12.nc.us/schools/carr/faculty/jsmarkwith/Pages/CoursesandAssignments.aspx

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/kavring/kavring1007/kavring100700063/7450945-copy-of-an-old-statue-of-the-viking-god-of-war-and-thunder-thor-sitting-and-holding-his-hammer-mjoln.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/odin%20god/Trojangod/odin_god.gif?o=2

http://www.celticattic.com/contact_us/norwegian_connection/clothing.htm

http://www.selkiestrings.co.uk/Viking%20Saxon%20Lyre%20large.JPG

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